MARQUEE AWARD ART THEATER GENERAL MANAGER AUSTIN MCCANN shocked that no one they met had even heard of an art-house co-op. “Eighty percent of art-house theaters are [conventional] nonprofits,” Hess explains. “So the co-op idea was not as relevant.” With no existing models to learn from, Hess and Galewsky took their cues from the latter’s food co-op. The members of Common Ground were excited to have another cooperative in the neighborhood. They shared with Hess the food co-op’s bylaws and messaging and helped price the shares, landing at $65, with a limit of nine shares per individual to ensure a communal distribution. “The majority of our owners own one share,” Hess explains. “We don’t want a small number of people committed to a lot of numbers each. We’re thrilled just to have more owners. The owners become ambassadors for the theater. It just keeps the theater in the front of people’s minds.” The initial fundraising target of $100,000 was met in just eight months with membership swelling to the 1,200s, enough to purchase a digital projector and cover the costs of business transition. Hess himself bought three shares. With a board of directors in place, the Art Theater began the search for a general manager. Twenty-six-year-old Austin McCann found out about the position while seeing Moonrise Kingdom for the second time at the Art, one of his favorite venues. Though he considered himself a long-shot candidate, McCann was eventually chosen to take over day-to-day operations of the theater despite his lack of exhibition experience. He brought with him not just a background in arts administration but an idealistic belief in the importance of the arts in fostering a sense of community. His faith in the co-op model was immovable. “Co-ops are a way of showing your support by continuing to support a local business. It’s that increased level of investment that makes you committed to the success of these projects and build community wealth,” he says. Despite the change in ownership, management, and business model, casual customers would be hard-pressed to identify any major shifts in operations. The Art Theater still shows first-run independent films and late-night cult classics, and showmanship remains a high priority. Hess is no longer there to provide an in-person introduction to each film, but the crowds still come for late-night shows, which are frequently emceed by a volunteer named Quizmaster Chris and accompanied by special events, like a bowling competition before The Big Lebowski or an election for <strong>Pro</strong>m King and Queen before Back to the Future. But McCann is slowly asserting his priorities, fostering local artists and creating dialogue among patrons. To that end, he inserts shorts by homegrown filmmakers before features and schedules Q&A segments after certain films. Following a screening of the Chilean political drama No, for example, a University of Illinois doctoral student who had grown up in Chile during the transition from dictatorship to democracy fielded questions from the audience. The Art Theater’s own transition to democratic rule buoys Hess. “The co-op model takes the pressure off,” he says. “The people who are buying shares are doing so not expecting any profit return. I’m just one of the other owners now. It’s a really good environment to go there and talk to other owners, people who are interested in the business.” He admits he’s also gratified that more people can appreciate all the work he put in the theater before. McCann, on the other hand, is perhaps slightly less elated. He deals with a lot of investors still puzzled by the brave new world of cooperatives. “Some folks still are trying to figure out what it means. They want to pick the film [for the week].” But both men are pleased by the sense of “ownership, not membership” that the co-op arouses. The Art Theater’s new owners have displayed pride in their new business by working concessions (usually for free admission), cleaning the auditorium before or after screenings, painting the outside of the theater, and donating graphic work. Shares don’t come with free or even discounted tickets, but they do offer concession-package discounts, seats at special screenings, and, most importantly, the right to vote and run for the theater’s board of directors. Perhaps best of all, owners are likely to be VIPs at the Art Theater’s 100th birthday bash in November. It’ll be an occasion for a further outpouring from the community. Local movie-theater historian Perry Morris will publish a coffee-table book detailing the Art’s history, while McCann is planning on having a group of musicians and composers write and perform a new score to accompany the screening of one of the first films shown at the theater, The Last Days of Pompeii. Luckily for the Art (if not for Pompeii), disaster has been averted, thanks to Hess’ revolutionary idea. “Having come through the process on the other side, I feel strongly that if there are towns out there with medium-size populations [and movie theaters in trouble], the co-op model is something they can look to. Those communities might step in. We like having a theater here.” 22 BoxOffice ® <strong>Pro</strong> The Business of Movies AUGUST <strong>2013</strong>
The co-op model takes the pressure off. The people who are buying shares are doing so not expecting any profit return. I’m just one of the other owners now. It’s a really good environment to go there and talk to other owners, people who are interested in the business. —Sanford Hess, Art Theater AUGUST <strong>2013</strong> BoxOffice ® <strong>Pro</strong> The Business of Movies 23
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